One play Sunday afternoon summed up the way the Giants were able to physically take control of their 41-27 win against the Browns, despite Cleveland’s fast start.

It was Ahmad Bradshaw’s 37-yard run in the third quarter. TE Martellus Bennett, after suffering a hyperextended left knee, sealed the left edge by blocking Browns DE Juqua Parker. FB Henry Hynoski and C David Baas sprinted ahead of Bradshaw, Hynoski blocking LB L.J. Fort and Baas shoving S T.J. Ward out of the way.

WR Victor Cruz held off CB Sheldon Brown, who could only get an arm out toward Bradshaw -- one of many arm tackles Bradshaw shed in his 200-yard rushing performance. Bradshaw sped upfield through the holes cleared for him, churning to Cleveland’s 40-yard line. The Giants built a three-score lead a few plays later, undeterred by starting in a 14-0 deficit.

The 200-yard benchmark is a big deal for a running back. And, as coach Tom Coughlin noted Monday, “It’s a big deal for a coach. It’s a big deal for the offensive line. The first thing (Bradshaw) yelled out when he came into the locker room is he congratulated the offensive line.”

The Giants offense was physical, tough, determined and working in synergy against the Browns -- a good combination to take forward into this week’s game at San Francisco. But this is a look back, so we’ll jump into the rest of the review now.

THE STRONG SIDE

The run game. As we mentioned above, the parts were working in unison this week, despite an ugly start with Bradshaw's fluky fumble. I thought it was interesting that the Giants said they used some of the same plays for Bradshaw over and over. RG Chris Snee said there were about five plays the Giants ran on repeat. “We had a lead play to the weak side we ran close to six times in a game, which is a high number for one particular run play,” Snee said. Hynoski and the linemen were fantastic up front, and Bradshaw followed their blocking well. Bradshaw had a 10-yard run in the first quarter on which he aptly changed direction when he saw TE Bear Pascoe had sealed off the left side by blocking DE Frostee Rucker. Bradshaw’s 4-yard TD run was well-designed: Baas and LG Kevin Boothe double-teamed DL Billy Winn, then Baas came off to pick up LB D’Qwell Jackson, giving Bradshaw enough of a window to bull into the end zone. The examples go on and on. Another interesting note: Coughlin said he was not aware that Bradshaw was close to the 200-yard mark. I wonder if OC Kevin Gilbride was? Bradshaw continued to pick up yards as the Giants wound time off the clock, and his final 12-yard run put him right at 200. Eli Manning then kneeled out the clock.

Rueben Randle. Manning, yet again this season, has demonstrated how to make it work with a injury-depleted group of receivers. This week’s breakout player was Randle (six catches, 82 yards), who put his one-on-one film work with Manning last week to use. He had a few rookie mistakes: Allowing DB Buster Skrine to get position on him in the end zone, which was fortunate to not lead to an INT, and a drop that went right through his arms. But Manning trusted him enough to look for him four straight times on one first-quarter drive, delivering the ball into small windows and expecting that he’d be able to hang onto the catch. Randle is nominated for Pepsi Max Rookie of the Week.

Playaction. See what happens when the run game gets going? Playaction is effective. The Browns bit on playaction fakes on two of Manning’s three touchdowns to Cruz -- though give the receiver credit for making nice breaks on each toward the corner of the end zone, shedding the defensive back. The second TD reminded me of DeSean Jackson’s score last week, when CB Corey Webster got caught looking back as Jackson broke to the corner. On Cruz’s third TD, he simply burned DB Trevin Wade.

David Wilson’s TD run. Wilson’s speed was obvious on his 40-yard score. “I could literally hear him run by,” Snee said. “It sounded pretty fast.” Hynoksi blocked LB Kaluka Maiava, while Snee picked up Fort, opening up a crease for Wilson. He burst through, past a diving Scott Fujita, and burned Ward on his way to the end zone. Asked if plays like this give him confidence in Wilson, Coughlin said simply, “Yes.” The Giants still seem to be using a certain package of plays for Wilson, because when he’s in the game, it’s usually a play designed for him. Consider: The first-round pick has played 16 offensive snaps this season, and has either carried the ball or been targeted with a pass on 12 of those snaps. “There’s certain things he does, and we’ll continue to do that with him,” Coughlin said. “He may go in as a decoy too.”

Takeaways. The Giants came up with three takeways at critical times: Stevie Brown’s interception on a high pass from QB Brandon Weeden in Giants territory, Will Hill’s forced fumble on a Joshua Cribbs kickoff return that was recovered by Brown, and LB Chase Blackburn’s end-zone interception that stopped the Browns from pulling within one score. LB Michael Boley also got his hands on a Weeden pass in the third quarter, a near-miss on what could have been his fourth interception of the season.

Time management at the end of the first half. The Giants had just scored two touchdowns in 1:42 of game time. But they did not let another opportunity go to waste before halftime. They had all three timeouts when Cleveland got the ball back with 1:10 left in the second quarter, so they knew they had a chance for one more score. They executed. The Giants made a defensive stop, getting the ball back with 17 seconds to play. A defensive pass interference penalty got them into position to kick a field goal with 4 seconds left. In the final 2:52 of the half, they scored 17 points.

THE WEAK SIDE

The pass rush. “How could we be satisfied?” Coughlin said. “We didn’t touch the passer again.” Osi Umenyiora got close to a strip sack of Weeden in the fourth quarter, but the play was ruled an incomplete pass. The Giants were able to get their hands up and bat at least four passes at the line, their answer to the Browns’ attempt to use the quick game. But the Giants’ rushers are still seeking answers to get the kind of pressure on the quarterback they’ve come to expect. Even with the ends bottled up, Coughlin said expects to see pressure from inside or the linebackers, which didn’t happen against the Browns.

Tackling. By an unofficial count, the Giants defense missed nine tackles against the Browns. I counted eight of those before halftime. Browns rookie RB Trent Richardson proved hard to tackle, brushing past or shaking free from first contact, like he did on the 15-yard TD run that gave the Browns a quick 7-0 lead. Richardson said last week that he saw room to run around the edge of the Giants defense, like LeSean McCoy did, and that was certainly his approach: 13 of his 17 rushes, for 58 of his 81 yards, were recorded as off tackle or around the ends. But give the Giants credit for making halftime adjustments. DC Perry Fewell reminded his defense to set the edge and keep Richardson contained in a box. He earned just 14 yards in the second half. "The guys were talking after the game," LB Spencer Paysinger said, "and saying in 2 to 3 years, he might be one of the best backs in the league."

Special teams. Coughlin said he “didn’t think our special teams played as well as we’ve been playing.” The kickoff return game, which fared so well against the Eagles last week, was stifled by veteran Browns K Phil Dawson. He kicked short or angled away from Wilson, who averaged 36.2 yards per return last week and just 13.5 yards per return this week. The Giants also mishandled a few returns. On the return when RB Andre Brown suffered his concussion, he probably shouldn’t have taken the ball out of the end zone. Dawson directed the kick away from Wilson, but Coughlin said Wilson should have helped Brown stay in the end zone on that kick. There was also a short kickoff, to the Giants’ 12-yard line, that Coughlin said Wilson should have simply taken up the sideline instead of trying to “out-distance” the coverage team. The Giants also gave up a 74-yard kick return to Cribbs. Hill missed a tackle early on, and LB Mark Herzlich had to chase Cribbs down from behind, saving a TD with a stop at the Giants' 30-yard line.

BETWEEN THE (WHITE) LINES

C David Baas’ swollen hand/elbow didn’t seem to be an issue this week. He rolled three bad snaps against the Eagles, but didn’t appear to have any bad snaps against the Browns…

Boley played through a hip injury, so Paysinger took his place in the base defense (11 snaps). But Boley wound up playing 40 snaps, 69 percent of the defensive load. Coughlin said that was a result of Boley playing in certain packages designed to defend the pass (such as the nickel package) that were used heavily once the Browns fell behind…

Stevie Brown, starting for Kenny Phillips (knee sprain), had two big plays with the interception and the fumble recovery. But he struggled at times honoring his deep responsibilities. Brown took responsibility for Josh Gordon's 62-yard TD catch -- a "Philly play" often run with DeSean Jackson, he said -- on which the Giants were in cover-2 but he wasn't deep enough to give Blackburn needed help over the top. On Gordon's second TD catch in the fourth quarter, it appeared he may have made a similar mistake. Brown tried to dive for the pass as it arrived, and missed -- but it looked like he possibly should have been helping Webster over the top on that play.

Hill played 34 defensive snaps (59 percent) against the Browns. Now that he is suspended, what will they do at the nickel corner spot? If CB Jayron Hosley (hamstring) is healthy, he would be able to slide in there. CB Justin Tryon took a few snaps as the nickel corner late in the game. It doesn’t seem like CB Michael Coe (hamstring) is yet at full strength. He was active but did not play against the Eagles, and this week only played special teams (seven snaps)…

Bennett played 52 offensive snaps (69 percent) despite his knee injury. He said he worked with the linemen to compensate in situations where he couldn’t give 100 percent. Gutsy performance…

Snee, who is playing through a partially torn hip labrum, came out for the final eight snaps of the game once the win was secure. Mitch Petrus filled in.

UNDER REVIEW

It doesn't matter in retrospect, because the Giants wound up scoring 41 points, but the play-calling on the goal line in one second-quarter series was curious. Bradshaw had run for 24 yards on that drive, including a 14-yard run to the Browns’ 11-yard line. The Giants then passed three straight times, each one incomplete, and kicked a field goal.

The refs called defensive pass interference on Skrine on a first-quarter pass to Manning, but missed a helmet-to-helmet hit on Randle by DB Usama Young after the play was over. Could draw a fine.

The Browns DBs got away with a few holds/interference. Coughlin wanted a flag when Skrine clearly yanked Randle’s jersey on a third-down incompletion in the third quarter. Manning’s fluky interception was also caused by unflagged interference: Sheldon Brown barred off Cruz’s hands with his right arm before the ball arrived. Once Cruz tried to make the catch, Brown’s arm was underneath the ball, so he flicked it out, right into the hands of Young.

The league will review Andre Brown’s tweet that “everything is ok,” sent from the locker room after he left the game with a concussion, as first reported by Newsday. The league’s policy is to review all in-game tweets to see if they are in violation of its social-media policy. Players, coaches and football operations personnel can use social media up to 90 minutes before kickoff, and after the game following traditional media interviews, but can be fined if they do so during the game.